SPORTS CLUBS across campus are gearing up for the start of their new BUCS seasons. Most matches are played on Wednesdays with most fixtures starting in week two. Vision spoke to some incoming Presidents about their clubs’ prospects for the year ahead.
One of last year’s University sport success stories was the men’s rugby 1sts, who stormed to promotion into the BUCS Premiership – the country’s top tier.
Heading into the new season President and fly-half Tomasz Chadwick is in confident mood. He said: “Due to an extensive and extremely vigorous pre-season, all teams in our club will be looking to start the season with a higher intensity than ever before.
“With the first team now competing in Prem B, there can be no recovery from a slow start. We have a tough fixture to begin with, away at Durham, but although our aim is to remain in the league this year, we still want to be competitive in every fixture.”
Chadwick also expects the 2nd team to benefit from the 1sts’ successes. He said: “We’re looking for a more promising season from them, which should increase competition higher up in the club.”
The club is also expecting to benefit from a good crop of freshers arriving this year. “We’re hoping for a significant intake this year due to the recent developments in sport at the university. With the introduction of a new club website we’re now in a stronger position than ever to reach out to prospective students.”
The men’s 1sts football team narrowly missed out on promotion in 2012/13, and will be looking to go one better than that second place in Northern 3B.
President and goalkeeper Luke Bradley has ambitions of achieving promotion, and he told Vision: “This season has the potential to be extremely successful for UYAFC as a club. Our preseason has been very sharp and the boys have worked extremely hard to give us the best possible chance.
“Having missed out on promotion due to a head to head ruling last season, the 1sts are extremely focused on winning promotion this year and with the attitude shown so far this is a very real possibility.”
In a strange quirk of the BUCS system, the football 2nds and 3rds will compete in the same division this season. But while the 2nds will be aiming to challenge at the top, the newly promoted 3rds are likely to be content with survival in Northern 5B.
Bradley added: “The club is always looking for new players and trials are Monday to Friday of Freshers’ Week, 1pm on 22acres costing £1 a day or £3 for the week.”
The hockey club is one of the biggest on campus. Their pre-season preparations are well underway, and President Nina Rawlings was glowing in praise.
“Pre-season has seen a strong effort from members of the club with the addition of some keen and accomplished freshers alongside a new coach, who we are completely lucky to have! We’ve started as we mean to go on with two wins for the ladies and a solid performance from the men.”
Rawlings also praised the spirit within UYHC and the openness of the club. She added: “We definitely feel like we’re a club to watch this year and are excited to develop the link between college and university. We are also hoping for a large fresher intake. Watch this space.”